The president’s statements were sweeping and unequivocal — and made both before and after the bill became law. The White House now cites technicalities to avoid admitting that he went too far in his repeated pledge, which, after all, is one of the most famous statements of his presidency.

The president’s promise apparently came with a very large caveat: “If you like your health care plan, you’ll be able to keep your health care plan — if we deem it to be adequate.”

What President Obama really meant was if he likes your health care plan you can keep it. If not, you’re out of luck.

One month in and at least 3.5 million Americans have received insurance cancellation notices. That number is only expected to continue to climb in the final weeks of 2013 and beyond.

The President’s response to the mess he created is telling the millions of Americans who have received cancellation notices they can “just shop around” for new policies that often come with more expensive premiums and higher deductibles.

There’s a better way forward, Mr. President. Short of repealing and replacing this disaster of a program, we need to add flexibility to the standards for policies under Obamacare and give Americans the freedom to keep their plans if they so choose. We can easily accomplish that by passing a bill introduced by Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI), which has the support of a majority of Senate Republicans, including myself, and will give Americans who like their individual policies the ability to keep them.

Decreased coverage, increased premiums and expanded government is not what the American people want, need or deserve. This is not what they want in a healthcare system. The real solution is repealing this law and replacing it with healthcare reform that will work. Until we can achieve that goal, we must offer some relief to the millions of Americans who are now receiving cancellation notices thanks to Obamacare.